News releases

Replacement of Home Delivery with Community Mailboxes

Ottawa (Ont.) – At Canada Post we are committed to working with municipalities as we convert the remaining one third of Canadian households that receive door-to-door mail delivery to community mailboxes. Working with municipal leaders and staff has been our approach since community mailboxes were first introduced in the late 1980s and remains our guiding principle as we install them in many communities, including Hamilton.

Canada Post is responsible for all installation and maintenance costs related to the community mailboxes and has been since they were introduced 30 years ago. That includes siting, site preparation such as curb cuts to ensure access, installation and ongoing maintenance including snow clearing and any graffiti-removal if required. We do everything possible to reduce incremental costs to the municipality and offer $50 per site to help offset any potential costs converting new neighbourhoods. We also install the boxes using existing street lighting and sidewalks where feasible.

Since we announced the latest conversions in Hamilton last fall, we have been in communication with the mayor and councillors whose wards are being converted. We have shared the input received from their citizens and sought to work with the city on identifying the best site locations. We believe this approach, combined with community engagement, will lead to the best outcome for all.

We work closely with municipalities to find the safest, most convenient locations for each neighbourhood to ensure city staff resources can be used most efficiently. We build our plans based on customer surveys and established guidelines, and by knocking on the doors of those who live adjacent to a proposed location. This process has been effective, leading to worthwhile adjustments in every community and keeping to a minimum the time requirement from municipal staff.

The simple reality is that the world is changing and so are the demands of Canadians. The amount of mail sent declines every year. We need to respond to protect service for all Canadians and avoid becoming a drain on taxpayers. In Hamilton, more than 34,000 addresses already use a community mailbox and have done so for years. We would like to work together with the municipality as we have in the past to ensure the best outcome for the people we both serve.